They would talk about her plane ride first, undoubtedly, and move on to particulars about luggage and where she would sleep; her bad back with bits about her latest fashion accessories. I would chime in with a morsel about my latest date with the only available single man in the office. A landslide failure. From then on out, her kids’ accomplishments would take center stage. Disappointments were such a bore.

Waving my arms at her, she walked right past me and looked me up down when I embraced her. As I looked into her eyes, I wondered where she’d gone.

48 Comments

I just thought it might be an interesting idea to explore if the person you knew just vanished! As if, this person she met is someone else entirely. That’s kind of hard to capture in this space, but that’s my idea. Thanks so much, Sandra.

Sadly, that seems how a lot of reunions go. We take different paths and each time we cross over again we are different, inside and out.
There becomes a disconnect. However, I believe there is always something inside of us that will hang on and find the connection. Lovely piece, My Friend. Lovely.

Perhaps these two will find that connection somewhere. I think you’re right, there’s always that connection between great friends even if you don’t know what it is. Sometimes we bring our preconceived trappings to a reunion. It’s comfortable in its own funky way even if we don’t like it. This time, she’s at a loss. Thanks so much for your feedback and your nice comments, Michelle!

I think it can happen in subtle ways, especially at the beginning of a reunion. It might take a bit to get back into the groove of a relationship, especially if a lot of time has passed. Thanks so much, Trent!

Time changes relationships, or not. I love when I get together with an old friend and it seems like we saw each other an hour ago, although it’s been over a year. Then there are the other meetings . . . Well written story.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments, Gah. I concentrated on the few details that depicted their relationship. Beyond that, I can’t really tell this story in 100 words. But, I like when I get ideas! Glad you enjoyed the scene. Happy New Year to you, too!

I recently picked up my niece form the airport. I hadn’t seen her in ten years and my sister-in-law said ‘you can’t miss her – she’s very tall and she dyed her hair purple.’ So a tall woman with purple hair got off the plane and I went to hug her. She didn’t know who I was and it was really embarrassing! Then my niece came up and tapped me on the shoulder. She recognized me. Her hair was green and she said she had re-dyed it the previous day because she didn’t like the purple. Your story reminded me of this. Well done! 😀

That’s hilarious, Dianne! You have the funniest stories. What are the odds that someone would be on that plane with purple hair and NOT be your niece? You can’t make that stuff up, or you could I suppose. It’s a story I wish I could have written. Thanks so much for sharing it with me! 😀

Reunions can be awkward. I like the reflection at the beginning – how she thinks the conversation will proceed, the topics, the back and forth. They seem to have been very close, once. Your turnaround at the end is a big shock, and works brilliantly. Definitely a fascinating back story in there.

And that’s why I’ve never gone to a school reunion. That’s no doubt why a lot of people don’t. As my son said, “I kept in touch with the people I liked. That’s enough.” She probably wonders if she every really knew this woman. Well done, Amy. 🙂 — Suzanne

Amy, I’m a bit late reading this week, but better late than never. I like how you built up the beginning of this with all the mundane details of life that we all recognize with meeting relatives. I got the impression that she had dementia, perhaps.

You’re never late to read a story in my book, David! Thank you. I think we all get caught up in the minutiae at some point in a visit. It just seems to happen and sometimes in preparation. Dementia could definitely work into this story. Thanks for reading!